How to build world-class educational institutions in India

Rankings are often a subjective exercise, and many education experts consider university rankings as arbitrary. However, no matter what methodology you choose, the top 15 universities in the world end up being largely the same year after year. They have been on this perch for a long time, with only marginal changes in the rankings every year, relative to each other. No one would be surprised by their names: Harvard, Yale, Cambridge, Oxford, MIT, University of Chicago, Princeton, Caltech, Stanfor .. It is logical thus to start our analysis with this question: what makes these universities so special? 

Let us first look at Harvard University, widely considered by academicians as the best university in the world. A clue to Harvard’s greatness can be found in the way it approaches its faculty appointments. Its administrators consider outstanding faculty as a prerequisite for greatness in a university. When Harvard decides to hire someone in any department, its management first asks this question: who is the best in the world in this area? They make a small list of the best candidates and offer the job to whoever tops the list. If he or she does not accept the offer, they go to the second best. And so on, till they get the best possible candidate for the job. 

India Vs Others

This concentration oftalent is one of the most important facets of a great university, but they have a few other attributes as well. They have a complete autonomy, even if they are funded by the government. They are international, and have an exceptionally good governance system. They are located in good places to live as well. Many Asian nations have realised the link between world-class universities and economic development and have been working hard to build a few such institutions in their countries. 

Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong have been particularly successful in this regard, but countries like Thailand and Vietnam have also managed to raise the standards of their universities recently. Our neighbours, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, have also made university-building as one of their priorities. 

Although the number of quality institutions in India has been slowly increasing as the government builds new IITs and IISERs, top Indian institutions have been slipping in their international rankings. It may not be because they have been declining in absolute terms, but because other institutions have been raising their standards rapidly — some with the explicit intention of grabbing higher ranks (See graphic: The Declining Rankings of Indian Universities). To begin with, only a small number of Indian institutions even qualify to be judged. These are the older IITs and the IISc, and to them we can add some upcoming IITs, IISERs and a few NIITs. However, no university in the real sense — with strong programmes in science, engineering, medicine, humanities and the social sciences — exists in India.

Some central universities come close, but they do not have medical schools or large engineering departments. On the other hand, engineering or science institutions do not have worldclass humanities or social sciences departments. Till about a decade ago, Indian higher education separated education from research, a cardinal sin in today’s academic environment.